How Far Is Too Far In the Quest To Have Kids?

[Jason Tandro]

From Yahoo! News:

"Many woman and couples dream of starting a family and having their own babies. But are they going to extremes without thinking of the future ramifications of fertility treatments and having multiples?

According to news reports out of Spain, 69-year-old Maria del Carmen Bousada, the oldest woman in the world to give birth, has died. Her twin sons are two years old, and it appears that Bousada's brother, Ricardo, will help raise the kids.

Bousada gave birth to her sons, Pau and Christian, when she was 66 years old. She came to the U.S. to receive in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment because she apparently could not receive fertility treatments in Spain due to her age.

Bousada went to Pacific Fertility Clinic in Los Angeles, Calif. for treatment and she lied about her age, saying she was 55. The clinic claims she falsiified documents to hide her real age. Nonetheless, the clinic still conducted fertility treatments on what they assumed was a 55-year-old woman who had been menopausal for 18 years!

Bousada's death and the fact that she leaves behind two toddlers is clearly tragic. And probably could have been avoided if the fertility clinic had investigated her background more thoroughly.

Yes, fertility clinics need to be better monitored and set more stringent rules about age limits for fertility treatments. And that's a huge, huge issue.

But there are other big issues that we haven't even begun to address when it comes to woman having babies past a certain age, or when mutiples are brought into a family. Let's look at a few recent examples:


"Jon & Kate Plus 8": The Gossleins are obviously a hot topic right now, but it's pretty clear that having twins and sextuplets put a strain on this couple's marriage since they are now divorcing.
Octuplet-gate: Nadya Suleman underwent IVF treatment after she already had six young children at home. She gave birth to octuplets earlier this year, and now her gaggle of kids has grown to 14. She had no means to support her family, and yet...still went through fertility treatments.
Adriana Illiescu: Illiescu also received fertility treatment and gave birth to a baby in 2005 when she was 66 years old. Her daughter is now four years old. Will the fertility treatments affect Illiescu's health down the road? It's unknown.
And of course, Maria del Carmen Bousada, whose babies kids are now orphans.

At what point are we crossing the line to have kids? When do we start looking at it as fertility abuse? And how old is too old to have a baby?"

My opinion is inconclusive. On the one-hand, setting an age limit on having kids is one step short of enacting zero population laws (which I am fervently against) and on the other, I see the need to better educate people about having children.

[Freedan]

I think in cases where people have so many ('Octobitch', to take SBF's word), they do it because it draws attention to themselves, and they're likely to score some kind of prize out of it. The woman has 14 kids, and now they're getting a TV show, which will see the kids earn hundreds of thousands of dollars (some of which will be set aside, but most of which I assume will be spent on herself).

Having a one-in-a-million birth (or one in a hundred, with all the fertility treatments) makes people hand things to you. So it's become trendy to expand your brood. After all, the parents aren't the ones paying for any of it.

And in the event that that isn't the case, then she had fertility treatments (and thus, 8 kids) when she knew she couldn't support them, which is just monumental stupidity.

So she's either stupid or greedy.

[Ratty Randnums]

Quote:

How far is too far in the quest to have kids?

ChrisChan

But seriously. overpopulation is a bad enough problem without fertility drugs. Once a woman hits 40 her chances of having a child with a birth defect (ESPECIALLY down-syndrome) skyrocket and only keep going up.
It's not only insane to help someone have a child they'll most likely not live to see grow to their teens even. But extremely cruel to the child themselves who will have to suffer through the side effects of this their entire lives. I mean, remember, women's eggs are as old as they are themselves.

[tay120n64]

Why not just set rules on who can use fertility drugs and under what circumstances?

That would help, at the very least.

[psychokind]

over 35 years old = risky childbearing.

any women older should be forced to abort and then sterilized if she doesn't understand what she's doing. in my opinion, it's a crime, and a very evil one.

[EverPhoenix]

i think that there should be rules outlining limits on this.

if you can concieve without the need for external aid, then it is your decision.

if you cant, for any reason, then it should be up to a medical professional to decide whether you are physically (and emotionally) fit to give birth and raise a child. if you pass, then you can proceed to the ivf clinic.